Why don't we feel exactly what he feels?

Published about 12 hours ago • 1 min read

There's a moment in the first episode of Looking that still lives rent-free in my head:

Patrick meets Richie — his love interest for the season — on Muni (San Francisco's public transit).

I lived in the Bay Area when it aired in 2014.

So I spent the next three years riding Muni hoping my Richie would find me there, too.

Which is a lot of influence for a scene that lasts only a few minutes.

Of course, that was partly about what happens later in the show — when we find out just how great Richie is.

But I wasn't just thinking about the relationship that follows; I was thinking about this moment.

So what made this tiny interaction stick with me for years?

Most of us would probably answer:

"Because we're feeling what Patrick's feeling — and it's exciting."

And yes, there's an element of that!

You can see Patrick (Jonathan Groff) smiling and grinning here, and you know something joyful is happening. He's charmed!

But we can tell he's also thinking: "who IS this guy coming on SO strong I think I'm going to LEAVE now."

But we aren't thinking that.

Even though we can see that's also what's happening.

We're screaming inside: THIS GUY IS THE ONE, PATRICK!!

(Even before knowing what happens in the rest of the season.)

We feel that pretty strongly because this scene isn't shot or cut like any other interaction Patrick's had so far.

Maybe because it isn't like any other interaction.

Patrick feels it, too.

But it takes him a while to act on it — because he's feeling other things we aren't.

So when Patrick finally goes looking for Richie at the end of the episode....

And looks understandably nervous...

Why are we busy squeeing at the romance — and the first good decision he's made — not sharing his trepidation?

Well, that's the kind of question we'll investigate in The Long Arc.

Not just what is a character feeling — but what is the show asking us to feel?

And how is that shaped not just by what we're watching right now, but what came before in the episode and in the season?

If you're curious where questions like these might lead:

The Long Arc: Looking Season 1 starts June 30.

Alex

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